Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 07, 2003 11:30:25	I recently purchased the Fiend Folio and discovered therein the wondrous race known as the ethergaunts, also called the "khen-zai." If you replace their wizardry levels with psionics, and make their favored class psion instead of wizard, you'd have a quality monster-race for Dark Sun PCs to take on. I even have some background info on the Athasian ethergaunts... Long ago, during the time of the Green Age, but still many years before the War-Bringer brought his message of sorcery and genocide, a mighty city-state stood tall and proud above all others: Khen-a'Zai, City of the Minds. The foundation-point for such psionic organizations such as The Order and The Crimson Banner, Khen-a'Zai was home to close to 50 thousand humans, and was a bastion of learning and insight. But there was a flaw deep within the hearts of the the people of Khen-a'Zai, a flaw that would prove their undoing. A faction of religious zealots appeared, preaching a doctrine of spiritual purity via emotional cauterization. They rejected the gods of the Green Age, as well as the teachings of the Grand Order of Druids. They sought spiritual perfection through the elimination of emotion, coupled with psionic mastery. This cult would be the downfall of Khen-a'Zai. Over many centuries, the people of Khen-a'Zai fell victim to this cult, losing their basic human natures under the twisted teachings of this new religion. Clerical and druidic magic came to be disdained, and only psionics were seen as the path to purity. But when the dark lord Rajaat began teachings his Art from the mysterious Pristine Tower, the priest-kings of Khen-a'Zai saw it as a sign of Athas' ultimate spiritual degredation. The leaders of the cult gathered in secret, and knew that something be done. So, they gathered the faithful, and through potent mindbending literally wrenched a hole through space, into the Ethereal Plane, and dragged the entire city of Khen-a'Zai through the portal, into mystery and loegend. Long have the khen-zai sought to return to Athas, to share their charnel wisdom with their once-kin, the humans. Now twisted beyond their human roots, the khen-zai seek to remake humanity in their own dark, brooding image.... --a similar write-up for other Fiend Folio races is on its way NB
#2 zombiegleemax Nov 07, 2003 11:50:02	Here's another race from the Fiend Folio: the insane kaorti! During the Time of Magic, the teachings of Rajaat allowed Athas to reach unparalleled heights of beauty and power. The psionics of the Green Age, combined with the arcane power of the Time of Magic, led to a paradise on earth, especially for humanity, a race Rajaat seemed to favor above all others. In time, Rajaat taught the basics of planar travel to his human students, who then set out to explore and catalogue the multiverse. However, whole travel to the Inner Planes was difficult, it was still possible. The mysterious Outer Planes, whom Rajaat knew existed (but little else than that), remained frustratingly out of reach. Not even Rajaat himself could reliably travel to the land beyond the stars; even for the nearly omnipotent First Sorcerer, Outer Planar travel remained a terrifying journey that required signifigant magic. In the end, a small band of human preservers, calling themselves the Kaorti-In-d'A (Giantish for "Those Who Travel Far"), banded together with the express purpose of breaching the Grey and exploring the Outer Planes. Rajaat himself saw to their training, and he gave them potent items to help boost their skills in the Art. Eventually, after nearly a solid century of research and experimentation, the Kaorti-In-d'A found what they were looking for: a weak spot in the Grey that would allow them to traverse into the Realms Beyond the Stars. Using relics given them by the First Sorcerer himself, the Kaorti-In-d'A went beyond the pale... ..and into madness. You see, what the Kaorti-In-d'A had found was not a portal to the Outer Planes, but rather a unique type of sub-plane, further away from Athas than any other. It was made of madness and contradiction, illogic and insanity, and the Kaorti-In-d'A were consumed by a massive sphere of eyes and brain matter, and became...the kaorti. For countless centuries, the mad and terrible kaorti existed in this far realm of insanity, until the start of the Cleansing Wars, when Rajaat called the entire race back to Athas. Pressed into the service of the Champions, the kaorti were a feared fighting force. But the Champions could never trust the kaorti, for the kaorti owed their loyalty to Rajaat, who had foreseen their transformation and layed spells into them that made them his slaves. When the Champions rebelled, the kaorti fled into the wastes, waiting for the moment their dark master will return... --still more races to come NB
#3 jihun-nish Nov 07, 2003 15:35:11	Originally posted by Nero's Boot I recently purchased the Fiend Folio and discovered therein the wondrous race known as the ethergaunts, also called the "khen-zai." If you replace their wizardry levels with psionics, and make their favored class psion instead of wizard, you'd have a quality monster-race for Dark Sun PCs to take on. I even have some background info on the Athasian ethergaunts... Long ago, during the time of the Green Age, but still many years before the War-Bringer brought his message of sorcery and genocide, a mighty city-state stood tall and proud above all others: Khen-a'Zai, City of the Minds. The foundation-point for such psionic organizations such as The Order and The Crimson Banner, Khen-a'Zai was home to close to 50 thousand humans, and was a bastion of learning and insight. But there was a flaw deep within the hearts of the the people of Khen-a'Zai, a flaw that would prove their undoing. A faction of religious zealots appeared, preaching a doctrine of spiritual purity via emotional cauterization. They rejected the gods of the Green Age, as well as the teachings of the Grand Order of Druids. They sought spiritual perfection through the elimination of emotion, coupled with psionic mastery. This cult would be the downfall of Khen-a'Zai. Over many centuries, the people of Khen-a'Zai fell victim to this cult, losing their basic human natures under the twisted teachings of this new religion. Clerical and druidic magic came to be disdained, and only psionics were seen as the path to purity. But when the dark lord Rajaat began teachings his Art from the mysterious Pristine Tower, the priest-kings of Khen-a'Zai saw it as a sign of Athas' ultimate spiritual degredation. The leaders of the cult gathered in secret, and knew that something be done. So, they gathered the faithful, and through potent mindbending literally wrenched a hole through space, into the Ethereal Plane, and dragged the entire city of Khen-a'Zai through the portal, into mystery and legend. Long have the khen-zai sought to return to Athas, to share their charnel wisdom with their once-kin, the humans. Now twisted beyond their human roots, the khen-zai seek to remake humanity in their own dark, brooding image.... --a similar write-up for other Fiend Folio races is on its way NB The crimson monolith (connected to their city) could be a stand point to introduce the race.